Perhaps the Malacañang priority tax bills would get stronger support from both chambers of Congress if there is assurance that all the leaks in the tax collection system will be plugged.
The imposition of new taxes will certainly be unpopular, but our legislators should realize that there is no choice. Rosario Manasan of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies told senators who attended the two-day "strategic planning workshop" last week that "all the tax measures will be painful, none will be popular," but it is clear that there is an immediate need by the government of additional revenues.
